With something like 10,000 riders, the first third of the race was crowded, but the views of thousands of riders snaking up mountains was incredible. Every one was in good spirits and several of us commented how “respectful” and cheerful the peloton was.

The only traffic of the day were endless ambulances passing by. A sobering reminder of how dangerous descending large mountains can be.

The first section of the race was a 55 km loop around the Sella Ronde, climbing 4 Passes (Campolongo, Pordoi, Sella, and Gardena). Perhaps as enjoyable and beautiful a ride as I have had. At this point, we were still fresh enough to gasp at every new panorama (this would change later).

After the loop, we then climbed Campolongo again and realized there was still an awful lot of work to do – we were less than half way.

Passo Giau was by far the hardest part of the day. It was suddenly dead quiet, with the only sounds heavy breathing as we all concentrated on passing the 29 sign-posted hairpins.

10 kms averaging 9.3% was misleading as some flat parts meant there were long stretches far steeper.

As we approached the top, the weather started turning. And as I finished stuffing my face with food, it started to pour with cold rain. This was at 2235 metres and I decided the only sensible plan was to descend immediately. And then it started hailing (ok it was pretty light hail)!

Fortunately, after a few kms we rode out of the storm – and despite threatening skies I made it to the finish before the next brief downpour.

The final climb to Passo Val Parola was much easier, and I enjoyed a very fast final descent to the finish – in fact I enjoyed all the descents more than I usually do, in part due to the superb road surfaces.

Other cyclosportives I was pleased to have done once. But I would happily do the Maratona dles Dolomites again. As good as it gets.

24 Comments

Wonderful ! It looks like Vercors (east side), but higher !
That’s incredible that you are always in high altitud (the lower is… 1350 metres !), so the climbs aren’t very long and with a weak ascent but if you add a little climb with an other, an other, and an other again, it becomes a very big climb (I have never ridden 4,000 metres of vertical). Congratulations !

Some questions:
What about altitude signs ?
How long does it take to go there, from Geneva ?
And… What was your position at the end of the race ?

1. It is about an 8 hour drive from Geneva – but took us 11 due to a traffic jam near Milan. C’est vraiment magnifique ici.

2. I think I have altitude sign photos of all the Passes above – but I thought the temporary race signs were often better than the official signs – and I had to act quick because I didn’t always get off the bike

3. My position? I consider finishing a victory but …. there were three events a 55km, a 108 km and the 138km. 4300 men finished the 138km — I was 2,929th! – Considering I was passed by several hundred riders on every descent and stopped to feast at most of the drink stations- it wasn’t too bad for an old guy like me

Will,
I’ve lived in Aix-les-Bains for the past year (sadly, we return to dead-flat Stockholm in 3 weeks) and started cycling to see if I could get up Mont Revard on my hybrid while I was here. Your website has provided much of the inspiration to achieve that and to try new climbs, and I’m quite bitten by the climbing bug. So, a big thanks for that!

That being said, this race looked amazing.! Well done on your efforts. One day…

Hi Will,
I was there as well and it was fantastic, I’ve done a few sportives but this one is definitely the best organised and most spectacular. I did suffer, like most, on the Giau and the hailstorm did make the descent something of an adventure, but the closed roads made it a very stress free ride especially on the descents. The atmosphere was electric, with all the helicopters coming by every now and then and being televised (6 hours live coverage on Italian tv!). Well done on your time, but you’re right finishing it is award enough. The free jersey was a welcome gift too. I want to go again… NOW!

A great summary about your experience throughout the maratona dles dolomites.
For me, just having turned 18, this was my first real cycling-tour to pass (or well apart from 2 150-kilometres courses around belgium and holland)
My goal was to ride under 8 hours, and it worked out (I beat my dad by 20 mins hehe)
In my experience the Valzarego was a lot tougher than the Giau though, probably because it seemed like a climb that wouldn’t end (my legs were suddenly amazingly fresh on the Giau)
I hate the fact that we don’t have a lot of mountains around my living region, getting addicted to climbing

Congratulations on passing the maratona, and have loads of fun on other events ^^

Hey Will
I’m riding the 2012 Maratona and very excited.
I’ve recently returned from a London to Vietnam ride. Get to Tajikistan or Kyrgyzstan if you want some stunning, untouched vistas and outstanding camping above 3,000 (and even 4,200) metres!
Tim